Zen Technologies board approved buying a 51.98% stake in Bengaluru defence tech startup Cogknit Semantics for up to Rs 135.15 crore in cash.

Zen Technologies Ltd, the Hyderabad-based maker of defence training simulators and counter-drone systems, cleared the deal at a board meeting on 17 October.

It told the exchanges the next day. Once the deal closes, Cogknit becomes a Zen subsidiary and its founders keep running the business.

The payment goes in two parts. Zen will buy existing shares from one shareholder and also subscribe to new preference shares that later convert into equity.

Investor Ashish Kacholia and his associates are putting money into the same funding round.

The stake is counted on a fully diluted basis, and Zen gets the right to nominate a majority of the directors.

Closing depends on the conditions set out in the agreements, and the company is aiming for 13 December or earlier.

Zen said the deal is not a related party transaction and needs no government approval. Cogknit was set up in 2009.

It builds software that links tanks, vehicles and soldiers on one live screen, so commanders can see the battlefield as it changes.

The firm won the government’s iDEX challenge to develop a battlefield management system for main battle tanks and received the Raksha Mantri’s Award for Innovation in 2022.

Zen says the system has completed field trials with the Indian Army. Cogknit’s yearly turnover was Rs 2.24 crore in FY24, Rs 0.78 crore in FY25 and Rs 0.48 crore in FY26.

Based on the price for the 51.98% stake, Zen’s offer values the whole company at roughly Rs 260 crore.

Zen expects the system to complement Samvid, its proposed AI platform for shared battlefield awareness.

Chairman and Managing Director Ashok Atluri said it took nearly five years to go from iDEX selection to field trials, with Army feedback shaping every stage. The purchase follows a busy few months of defence orders for Zen.

The company received a Rs 177.5 crore Ministry of Defence order on 21 July and a Rs 295 crore simulator order on 10 August. Its order book stood at Rs 1,239 crore on 30 June.

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